andylegate
Well-Known Member
Hi Y'all,
Just started off in this brave new world of homebrewing, listening to my air lock on my fermentor girgle away as I type this. I've read a lot of good tips and advice from people on here before starting, so thanks to everyone for what I've already read.
Having never actually homebrewed beer before, I never thought to give it a try actually. I'm not the biggest beer drinker in the world (that would be my Dad, who's already waiting for his first bottle from me). But sitting watching TV one night, they had the Sam Adams commercial on talking about sending in your sample of homebrew to them for their contest. My wife spoke up saying that I should try it since I'm such a good cook.
I smirked and her at first, but it DID get the wheels turning in my head. Why not? Not to enter the contest, but to try and make my own batch of beer.
Being very analytical in nature, I did my home work by doing research and reading as much as possible first. It seemed to me, that my best bet was to try an already made kit for my first batch. That way I could concentrate on actually making the beer, but not worry too much about what malts and grains to use first.
Being very partial to Brown and Amber ales, I decided to get a kit from Homebrew Heaven, which is their Brewnett Brown American Ale.
When the recipie kit arrived, along with the airlock, rubber stoppers, bottle caps, etc, I was itching to get going. I'd even went and found me a nice carboy to use as the secondary fermentor.
Oops.....I forgot the brewing pot of all things!!!! LOL.
Lucky me, my parents have this HUGE pot they use to boil crabs and will hold up to 5 gallons, so my dad saved the day. We live on 10 acres of land out here and my house is next door to him.
Happy to get me started (and really wanting one of the beers as soon as possible!) my dad got me the pot and I got started.
The smell of the grains steeping, and then the malt extract boiling had both me and my wife's mouth watering. It smelled great! Almost like hot bread and roasted nuts!
You have to understand. I spent 10 years in the navy and on occasion, we made our own type of wine. Some of the most disgusting smelling brew.........so I was prepaired for something bad smelling, but not this wonderful smell!
After getting the Wort cooled down and into my fermentor (I'm using a 5 gallon sealable paint bucket you can pickup at Home Depot) I pitched the yeast and then sealed it up. I had cut a hole in the top of the sealable lid and placed my airlock with the rubber stopper while the brew boiled. I used glue to seal it in place. Here is where I made my first mistake that I'll show later.
I moved the fermentor into my computer room where it's air conditioned and out of the sun light. The instructions said it would take 8 to 36 hours for the fermentation to begin.
Next morning, I didn't see any bubbles in the air lock, but wasn't worried, it had only been 7 hours or so.
When I got home from work, there still was no bubbles. Being the worry wort that I am, I got to thinking:
I had sterilized the bucket with a few drops of bleach and water. I know I really rinsed the bucket out after that, but I was thinking maybe I had killed the yeast!
Fearing the worst, I popped open the lid, and there was almost 2 inches of foam! The smell of beer hit me, and I knew the yeast was doing it's thing! Puzzled, I resealed the lid and stared at the air lock. Still no bubbles. Having an idea, I took a few table spoons of water and poured it around the rubberstopper. There was the bubbles! The glue had not quite set and the CO2 had made itself an air hole.
I went and got some of my son's Play Dough and packed it around the stopper, and TAH DAH! I got bubbles through the air lock!
I don't have a Hydrometer yet, so I'm having to wait until the bubbles get down to around 1 a minute before I rack the beer. So seeing the bubbles was important.
So we'll know just how well this first time worked.
gotta go, I think my dad is knocking at the door wondering if the beer is ready yet!
Just started off in this brave new world of homebrewing, listening to my air lock on my fermentor girgle away as I type this. I've read a lot of good tips and advice from people on here before starting, so thanks to everyone for what I've already read.
Having never actually homebrewed beer before, I never thought to give it a try actually. I'm not the biggest beer drinker in the world (that would be my Dad, who's already waiting for his first bottle from me). But sitting watching TV one night, they had the Sam Adams commercial on talking about sending in your sample of homebrew to them for their contest. My wife spoke up saying that I should try it since I'm such a good cook.
I smirked and her at first, but it DID get the wheels turning in my head. Why not? Not to enter the contest, but to try and make my own batch of beer.
Being very analytical in nature, I did my home work by doing research and reading as much as possible first. It seemed to me, that my best bet was to try an already made kit for my first batch. That way I could concentrate on actually making the beer, but not worry too much about what malts and grains to use first.
Being very partial to Brown and Amber ales, I decided to get a kit from Homebrew Heaven, which is their Brewnett Brown American Ale.
When the recipie kit arrived, along with the airlock, rubber stoppers, bottle caps, etc, I was itching to get going. I'd even went and found me a nice carboy to use as the secondary fermentor.
Oops.....I forgot the brewing pot of all things!!!! LOL.
Lucky me, my parents have this HUGE pot they use to boil crabs and will hold up to 5 gallons, so my dad saved the day. We live on 10 acres of land out here and my house is next door to him.
Happy to get me started (and really wanting one of the beers as soon as possible!) my dad got me the pot and I got started.
The smell of the grains steeping, and then the malt extract boiling had both me and my wife's mouth watering. It smelled great! Almost like hot bread and roasted nuts!
You have to understand. I spent 10 years in the navy and on occasion, we made our own type of wine. Some of the most disgusting smelling brew.........so I was prepaired for something bad smelling, but not this wonderful smell!
After getting the Wort cooled down and into my fermentor (I'm using a 5 gallon sealable paint bucket you can pickup at Home Depot) I pitched the yeast and then sealed it up. I had cut a hole in the top of the sealable lid and placed my airlock with the rubber stopper while the brew boiled. I used glue to seal it in place. Here is where I made my first mistake that I'll show later.
I moved the fermentor into my computer room where it's air conditioned and out of the sun light. The instructions said it would take 8 to 36 hours for the fermentation to begin.
Next morning, I didn't see any bubbles in the air lock, but wasn't worried, it had only been 7 hours or so.
When I got home from work, there still was no bubbles. Being the worry wort that I am, I got to thinking:
I had sterilized the bucket with a few drops of bleach and water. I know I really rinsed the bucket out after that, but I was thinking maybe I had killed the yeast!
Fearing the worst, I popped open the lid, and there was almost 2 inches of foam! The smell of beer hit me, and I knew the yeast was doing it's thing! Puzzled, I resealed the lid and stared at the air lock. Still no bubbles. Having an idea, I took a few table spoons of water and poured it around the rubberstopper. There was the bubbles! The glue had not quite set and the CO2 had made itself an air hole.
I went and got some of my son's Play Dough and packed it around the stopper, and TAH DAH! I got bubbles through the air lock!
I don't have a Hydrometer yet, so I'm having to wait until the bubbles get down to around 1 a minute before I rack the beer. So seeing the bubbles was important.
So we'll know just how well this first time worked.
gotta go, I think my dad is knocking at the door wondering if the beer is ready yet!
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
all dependant on many things of course. But to tell you the truth, I have no doubt it will last 7 days at the rate my air lock is gurgling! 
